United States in 1870. The ship carries, on revolving turrets, three guns, throwing shots of 500 pounds weight. She has 44-inch armour from stem to stern, and when in action rises only six inches above the sea-level, with the further defence of being able to hurl streams of boiling water on an enemy attempting to get on board. The other three ironclads, the Union,' the 'Victoria,' and the Loa,' are of antiquated construction.

Area and Population.

The area of Peru is estimated to extend over 503,000 English square miles, with a population, according to a census taken in 1876, of 2,673,075, comprising 1,352,151 males, and 1,320,924 females. The republic is divided into twenty-one departments, the area and population of which were reported as follows at the census taken in 1876:

The conditions of peace with Chili (January 1882) involve the cession of the province of Tarapaca, and the guano deposits of the Lobos Islands.

It is estimated that 57 per cent. of the population of Peru are aborigines, or 'Indians,' and that 23 per cent. belong to mixed races, 'Cholos' and 'Zambos.' The remaining 20 per cent. are

divided among descendants of Spaniards, Negroes, Chinese, and Europeans, the latter forming barely 2 per cent. of the total population, comprising chiefly Italians and Germans. At the enumeration of 1876 the populationof the capital, Lima, was returned at 160,056. Trade and Industry.

The foreign commerce of Peru is chiefly with Great Britain and the United States, and it centres in the port of Callao, suburb of Lima, the capital.

The commercial intercourse between Peru and the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined tabular statement, which gives the total value of the exports from Peru to Great Britain and Ireland, and of the imports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into Peru in each of the ten years from 1871 to 1880:

The staple articles of export from Peru to the United Kingdom are guano, cubic nitre, and sugar. During the ten years from 1871 to 1880, the quantities and value of the exports of guano from Peru to Great Britain were as follows:—

Guano was first brought to Europe by Alexander von Humboldt

in 1802, but did not become an article of commerce till 1840. It

came to be exported in considerable quantities after the year 1852, when a difference with the United States as to the right of possession of the Lobos Islands was settled, through the mediation of Great Britain and France, in favour of Peru. The shipments of guano, entirely free before, were then taken in hand by the Government, being made a state monopoly.

Equal in importance to guano as an article of export to Great Britain, is cubic nitre, also a government monopoly. The exports of nitre were as follows in each of the years from 1871 to 1880:

The exports of sugar, in an unrefined state, small previous to the year 1869, assumed large proportions in recent years. The value of the exports of sugar rose from 512,1127. in 1874 to 912,7997. in 1876, and to 1,128,0627., in 1880. Among the minor articles of export to Great Britain are sheep and alpaca wool, of the value of 150,5157. in 1880; and copper, unwrought or part wrought, of the value of 43,6867. in 1880.

The imports of British produce into Peru comprise mainly cotton and woollen manufactures. The imports of cotton goods amounted to 423,570l. in 1875; to 324,350l. in 1876; to 539,1067. in 1877; to 594,1667. in 1878; to 228,0317. in 1879; and to 97,583/. in 1880. Of woollens the imports were of the value of 30,4477. in 1880.

A system of railways, designed to develop the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the country, has been in course of construction since the year 1852, mainly at the expense of the state. At the end of 1877 there were open for traffic, or in course of construction, eleven lines belonging to the state, 1,281 English miles in total length, and costing 128,354,600 soles, or 25,670,9207. ; eight lines belonging to private persons, 496 miles in length, and costing 24,420,000 soles, or 4,884,6007.; and two lines, belonging in part to the state and in part to individuals, 253 miles, costing 27,200,000 soles, or 5,440,000l., being a total of twentytwo lines, 2,030 miles in length, and representing a cost of

179,974,600 soles, or 35,994,9201. The following is a list of these

The construction of the lines of railway belonging to the State was undertaken solely for purposes of public utility, remunerative results not being calculated upon in a country so sparsely populated as Peru. Referring to the longest of the State lines, from Arequipa to Puno, near the summit of the Andes, the British Minister and Consul-General, in a report of the year 1878, says:-232 miles of difficult railway have been made, at an expense of about 6,000,000%., in order that three or four goods trains may run per week.' Of the railways belonging to private individuals, only the double line from

Lima to Callao, eight miles, from Lima to Chorales, nine miles in length, the property of an English company, is reported to be a commercial success.

Peru has important silver mines, situate mainly in the Cero de Pasco. Their produce amounted to 1,395,936 ounces in 1874; to 1,357,432 ounces in 1875; to 1,358,792 ounces in 1876; and to 1,427,592 ounces in 1877.

The merchant navy of Peru numbered 147 vessels, of 49,860 tons, including 8 steamers, of 1,768 tons, at the end of 1877.

Diplomatic Representatives.

1. OF PERU IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Envoy and Minister.-Don Toribio Sanz, accredited March 10, 1880. 2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN PERU.

Minister and Consul-General.-Sir Spenser St. John, appointed Dec. 12, 1872.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Peru, and the British equivalents, are:

MONEY.

The French metric system of weights and measures was established by law in 1860, but has not yet come into general use.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Peru.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Demarcacion politica del Peru. Edicion oficial de la direccion de estadistica. Fol. Lima, 1874.

Report by Mr. Spenser St. John, British Minister, on the population, mining industry, and railways of Peru; in Reports from H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part IV. 1878. 8. London, 1878.

Reports by Mr. Consul Nugent on the trade of Arica, and by Mr. Consul Graham on the commerce and navigation of Islay, dated May-July 1874; in 'Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part I. 1875. 8. London, 1875.

Report by Mr. Consul Graham on the trade of Islay, dated Islay, January 15, 1875; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part III. 1875. 8. Londou, 1875.